Fisherman have long used many devices to hold fishing lines, and to alert fishermen of fish bites on fishing lines. As a result, there have been numerous inventions and modifications in the field of fish bite alarms, as well as devices to hold and then release fishing lines. However, these devices do not address the dilemma of alerting the fisherman that a fish has bitten without simultaneously alerting the fish itself. The most common cause of this problem in conventional devices is that the fishing line requires a significant pull (and in some cases a double pull) on it in order to operate the tension necessary to release it from the line holding device, thereby allowing the fishing reel to spin freely. That increases tension is often all a fish needs to realize that a danger is present, and the fish reacts accordingly.
Thus, there is a clear need for a fishing line holding device which does not require a strong pull to release the line so that the fish is not alerted to danger. A line holding device which provides an immediate, tangle-free release is also needed. Only a small tension on the line should be required in order to release the line from the grasp of the holding device. Also, since fishing environments can greatly vary, it is also desirable to provide tension control on the line holding device. In this way line tension can be adjusted to best suit the particular circumstances in which the fishing is carried out.